Super Smash Bros. series

The Super Smash Bros. series (Japanese: ニンテンドウオールスター!大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ Nintendo All-Stars! Great Fray Smash Brothers) is a series of cross-over fighting games, featuring characters from many Nintendo franchises, and several from non-Nintendo franchises. The series was originally developed by HAL Laboratory, before series creator Masahiro Sakurai left the studio on August 5, 2003. Since then, Sakurai founded Sora Ltd. in 2005 and has continued developing Smash Bros. games under that studio, with Namco Bandai assisting in the development of the latest entry in the series. The series has appeared on every home console since the Nintendo 64, as well as a handheld entry on Nintendo 3DS.

History

The first game in the series, Super Smash Bros., was released for the Nintendo 64 worldwide in 1999. The game features 12 playable characters, two of which being Pikachu and Jigglypuff. A stage based on Saffron City is playable, and is also the main stage for Pikachu and Jigglypuff. The music that plays on this stage is a remix of the main Pokémon theme, often heard the openings for the core series titles. Twelve Pokémon also appear in the form of Poké Ball Pokémon, which can be used to either help or hurt players during a match.

The second game in the series, Super Smash Bros. Melee, was released for the Nintendo Gamecube in 2001 for Japan and North America, and 2002 for Europe and Australia. The game greatly improved upon its predecessors in every aspect, while still retaining core elements from the original game. Pikachu and Jigglypuff return as playable fighters. In addition, Pichu and Mewtwo joined the game's roster. While Saffron City did not return as a stage, Poké Floats and Pokémon Stadium made their debut as playable stages. The theme that plays on Poké Floats is a medley containing themes from Generation I and the theme that plays on Pokémon Stadium is an orchestral version of the main Pokémon theme. There are a total of 29 Poké Ball Pokémon. The new event matches feature 3 events that are Pokémon-themed. Additionally, there are 58 collectible trophies that are Pokémon-themed.

The next game is Super Smash Bros. Brawl, released for the Wii worldwide in 2008. This is the first game in the series to feature a story mode, and it also includes other new elements, such as Final Smashes, Assist Trophies and stickers. Pikachu and Jigglypuff return, while Pichu and Mewtwo are cut from the roster. In their place, Pokémon Trainer (who controls Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard) and Lucario are added to the roster. Rayquaza appears in a boss fight during the game's story mode. Pokémon Stadium is the only stage from past games to make a return. In addition, Spear Pillar and Pokémon Stadium 2 are added as playable stages. Unlike past games, multiple pieces of music can be played in a stage, thus increasing the amount of Pokémon songs present in the game. A total of 11 songs from the core titles are available, as well as three returning from Melee. There are a total of 31 Poké Ball Pokémon and 75 Pokémon-themed trophies. There are 38 Pokémom-themed stickers, with an additional 30 non-Pokémon stickers have effects for Pokémon characters.

The most recent entry is Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U, released for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U respectively in 2014. The 3DS game is the first handheld Smash Bros. entry. The games featured the same playable roster, but vary greatly when it comes to stages, trophies, modes, music, etc. Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Charizard and Lucario return in the base game. Greninja was added to the game's base roster. While Pokémon Trainer was cut (along with Squirtle and Ivysaur), Mewtwo returned from Melee as paid DLC in 2015. On the 3DS, Prism Tower and Unova Pokémon League were playable stages, each containing 2 songs from their respective games. The Wii U version saw the return of Pokémon Stadium 2 and the addition of Kalos Pokémon League, each containing a large number of songs from the Pokémon series. A total of 24 songs from the core titles are available. A total of 41 Pokémon can appear from Poké Balls. These entries added Master Balls, which are only capable of containing Legendary Pokémon, Mythical Pokémon, Zoroark and Goldeen. The 3DS introduced an exclusive mode called Smash Run, which features five Pokémon as enemies. There are 55 Pokémon-themed trophies that appear in both versions, 23 that only appear in the 3DS version and 34 that only appear in the Wii U version.

An untitled Super Smash Bros. game is in development for Nintendo Switch and is planned for release in 2018.